Old bricks find new purpose as pathway stones for labyrinth

Artist Martin Kampitch is building a 45-foot circular labyrinth at his studio site off George Street and welcomes anyone who wants to assist with laying the brick path on Saturday morning.

Charlie Hall/Sun Journal

By Charlie Hall, Sun Journal Staff

Published: Friday, May 3, 2013 at 04:15 PM.

When a late evening 2012 Memorial Day fire gutted an 1898 North Carolina Railroad building on Craven Street, it marked the loss of another of New Bern’s historic structures.

A day after the flames lit the evening sky, drawing hundreds of spectators, only the brick shell remained. The structural remains were later demolished and the site is now bare, located next door to Craven Supply Co. That business was saved by quick work of the New Bern Fire Department.

Thanks to a benevolent demolition contractor, the bricks from the historic building will survive and find a new life — walkway stones for a labyrinth being constructed off George Street by local artist Martin Kampitch.

In a bit of irony, the bricks leave a major transportation site — the hub area of the old Union Station Depot and adjacent work buildings — for Kampitch’s property, the former city bus station which now houses his Martin Henry studio.

Kampitch said he saw the massive pile of bricks and inquired with the haul-away truck driver, who said “we’re going to haul them and grind them up.”

The artist, who had been thinking of building his spiritual labyrinth for several months asked if he could have the bricks and was told yes.

“He even brought them over here,” Kampitch said, pointing to a 10-foot-high pile adjacent to the labyrinth site. “They (bricks) were going to be ground into dust and now they can be used to give back to the community.”

When a late evening 2012 Memorial Day fire gutted an 1898 North Carolina Railroad building on Craven Street, it marked the loss of another of New Bern’s historic structures.

A day after the flames lit the evening sky, drawing hundreds of spectators, only the brick shell remained. The structural remains were later demolished and the site is now bare, located next door to Craven Supply Co. That business was saved by quick work of the New Bern Fire Department.

Thanks to a benevolent demolition contractor, the bricks from the historic building will survive and find a new life — walkway stones for a labyrinth being constructed off George Street by local artist Martin Kampitch.

In a bit of irony, the bricks leave a major transportation site — the hub area of the old Union Station Depot and adjacent work buildings — for Kampitch’s property, the former city bus station which now houses his Martin Henry studio.

Kampitch said he saw the massive pile of bricks and inquired with the haul-away truck driver, who said “we’re going to haul them and grind them up.”

The artist, who had been thinking of building his spiritual labyrinth for several months asked if he could have the bricks and was told yes.

“He even brought them over here,” Kampitch said, pointing to a 10-foot-high pile adjacent to the labyrinth site. “They (bricks) were going to be ground into dust and now they can be used to give back to the community.”

Kampitch explained that the labyrinth is a series of paths leading to and away from a center, used by ancient civilizations worldwide in what he termed “a path of life.”

“They can be used for reflection and finding purpose,” he said. “As you walk toward the center, you are actually walking further from it. But, you are actually walking toward it. It looks like you are not making headway. The lesson is to never give up.”

Kampitch said the labyrinth represents a “willingness to grow spiritually.”

“I personally feel that ultimately all questions can be resolved through personal growth,” he said.

Kampitch cleared land next door to his Martin Henry studio and using a basic labyrinth design, dug out the seven-pathway design inside a 45-foot-wide circle by hand.

Saturday is World Labyrinth Day and he is inviting friends and anyone interested to come and help place the bricks in the paths. He plans to begin about 9 a.m.

“It doesn’t require brick and mortar skills,” he said. “It is just brick and sand.”

Once completed, the site will have a garden, gate and artwork.

He said it will be open and free for anyone to come by and walk the paths.

Charlie Hall can be reached at 252-635-5667 or Charlie.hall@newbernsj.com.